When Christopher Wink asks me to do something, I can never say no.

I was pretty psyched when he asked me to come be a part of their co-sponsored (with 215 Magazine) Vitamin Water #Uncapped event, a sixteen day celebration of music, media, arts, etc. While a lot of #Uncapped wasn’t necessarily my scene (I don’t know / listen to any of the musicians or artists involved), this New Media Unplugged session was absolutely my territory, full of my people.

Lots of cool folks were there as featured speakers, including my pal Tayyib Smith (215 Magazine), Shannon McDonald (NEPhilly), and Adam Schmidt of DrinkPhilly. Danya Henninger (DrinkPhilly’s new editor) was also in attendance and is pictured above, chilling with me pre-show. You can’t see it in the low rez photo, but I totally have a dreamy look on my face. #swoon.

A solid audience showed up to listen to us ramble about hyperlocal blogging and indie publishing. I often feel somewhat out of place at events like this, as Geekadelphia isn’t a for-profit / monetized blog (and likely never will be). When Wink passed the microphone to me to talk about monetizing and sustainability, the guy knew what he was doing. Turns out, several folks in the room had the same mindset as me, and after the talk, we spoke at length about it. It was great, and made me feel less alone in my “this is just for fun” stance.

As for the audience, almost everyone there was involved in the local media somehow. Some print journalists, some fledgling bloggers, etc. There were also a handful of startup folks and curious students thrown into the mix. I met some interesting new people. But at a Technically Philly event, you always do.

All in all, another ridiculously successful event thrown by the Technically Philly boys. Sean Blanda won an iPad in the Geekadelphia raffle during my talk, but since he wasn’t there, I threw it away.

Couple of pictures after the jump. Apologies for the quality. I was using my iPhone.

Branding outside the studio. Vitamin Water sponsored this jawn.

More branding outside. Nicely done, VM.

The stage before the lights went low.

Friends hanging out. Sup Mikey, Joe, and Lauren.

Light beer. Surprisingly not terrible!

Folks listening in as we chat.

More folks listening in.

So I only blog on this personal site two or three times a month, sometimes way more if a lot is going on (see April). So I’m going to start these little monthly recaps of what I’ve been up to, since I feel like I’ve been doing so much… only I don’t have the time to write long drawn out posts about every little thing. So yeah. Here goes. May 2011.

Geekadelphia Highlights:

I was named one of “The 20″ by NBC Philadelphia. It’s a list of influential voices in the social media world here in Philly. A really flattering, sweet gesture… though I’m sure I will be briskly removed once they realize all Geekadelphia does is tweet blog posts, snarky things to Technically Philly, and make silly jokes through out the day. Still, really awesome.

I attended Philadelphia Tech Week and made a fool out of myself. The video is available for the entire world to watch. Apologies, Chris Wink. You know I love you.

I was asked to appear as a celebrity judge for a competitive comedy show called ComedySportz. Despite the fact that the event fell on the same day as the Rittenhouse Row Festival, I agreed, and brought several friends… so they could see what a big deal I was, of course. The event was fabulous. I was genuinely shocked at what a great time I had, and it was nice meeting a lot of Geekadelphia fans. Apparently 75% of the ticket holders got to the event because of Geekadelphia, which thrilled me. Can’t wait to go again.

Writing Highlights:

Textual Healing continues to get reviewed here and there. My friend Allie Harcharek just finished re-editing the thing, and a second printing is in the works.

My essay that’ll be appearing in The Apiary literary journal will pop up in the Winter of 2011. Super psyched.

Quirk & Work Highlights:

I announced that I’d be doing freelance marketing and publicity for my pals Parker and Jake, who have a small video game dev company called Flyclops. It’s always been a little dream of mine to work in gaming, and now, at last, I am. At least a little. And that counts.

The new Quirkbooks.com launched, and looks absolutely fabulous. Designed by the folks at 160/90, it’s a massive improvement on the old website. Especially since… you know, the old website didn’t work and was slammed with infections.

Shortly after the launch, I wrote a silly Top 10 Animated Gifs of Michael Bolton blog post on the site, which was immediately picked up and tweeted / Facebooked by Michael Bolton. No, not the guy from Office Space. The actual singer. Yes, I took a screenshot of the Tweet. Yes I printed it out. Yes I have it hanging in my office. What of it?

I attended BEA, my first big book expo, and oh my God, it was awesome. Met lots of bloggers, did some networking, all that good stuff.

Life in General:

I got all the remaining pieces of my Master Chief armor. A process that began last Summer, mostly out of heartache, is finally complete. I own a suit so heavy I can hardly walk in it and can’t put it on without help… and I am unbelievably happy. Spartan-215.com will definitely become more active (though I have been posting pictures almost daily), in the coming weeks. I can’t WAIT for Wizard World with Tim.

Speaking of Tim, he asked me to be in his wedding party. There were tears.

Whoa, shiny! Backgrounds courtesy Anthony Clark.

IZEA, a wonderful social media and marketing group that occasionally works with Geekadelphia, awarded me “Postie of the Month” for the month of January. It’s pretty exciting, and looks super cute on my desk. I always wanted a shiny glass award.

For those of you who don’t know, Izea works with bloggers on a pay-per-post basis, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with them on a number of fun projects. Thanks to them, I was able to make the connections to Hewlett-Packard for Geekadelphia’s big three year anniversary party. I was also able to donate printers to local in-need institutions, raffle off electronics for charity in November, and this month, donate money to the American Red Cross.

I know there’s a stigma in the blogging community when it comes to pay-per-post. As for me, in a time when internet advertising isn’t as popular as it once was, I see it as an opportunity to do some good, and interact with the community I love. Thanks Izea.

Today at work, I was pleased to find a large box of Quirk Books’ upcoming release, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, waiting for me at my desk. The book doesn’t come out til the end of March. Awesome.

My lovely blog, Geekadelphia, is hosting a Zombieland movie night at The Trocadero here in Philadelphia next Monday, and Quirk was kind enough to donate these books as giveaways / prizes. I’m keeping a copy for myself to review on the blog, of course.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a goal of mine to one day pitch a book to Quirk. I just need to think of that killer, uber-creative idea. I mean, I’m an English professor! This should be easy. Let’s see…

• Oedipus The Bling: A Hip Hop Greek Opera
• Spamlet: A Hamlet Adaptation in the Vein of Monty Python
  
• Beo-wolf: The Untold Story of Beowulf vs. The Wolfman
• Oliver’s Fist: Oliver Seeks Revenge on Those Who Wronged Him
• The Waist Band: T.S. Eliot’s Guide to Losing Weight & Staying in Shape

Quirk, if you’re interested in these, I have about a dozen more. Let’s talk. I will totally accept hugs, high fives, and a value meal from Wendy’s as my advance.

Recently, the Philadelphia based ‘ist blog, Phillyist, ranked me as one of Philadelphia’s Top 10 Not-So-Secret Superheroes. It’s a fun list that include Kevin Bacon, Steve Ward, Cliff Lee (from the Phillies), my buddy Anna Goldfarb, some other cool folks, and well… me! Awesome! Happily, I wasn’t on the most hated Philadelphians list.

Blogger Allison Krumm talked about my work with Geekadelphia, and this seriously made me smile. Tim, Dan, and I have put a lot of work into the Geek this year, and it’s always nice to catch a little recognition for it.

We threw a rather large scale party back in November to celebrate our third year online, and this year is already shaping up to be even crazier.

Thanks Allison!

Sometimes I get interviewed places!

20 Questions With a Blogger – Examiner recently published an interview with me on their site, asking me a bunch of questions about my career, writing, favorite music, things of that nature. Give it a read, I try to be clever and witty.

Geekadelphia Guidespot – Local freelancer Alexis Siemons featured me on Guidespot, a site that highlights maps and guides in various cities. In this one, I help show off my favorite ‘geeky’ locations around the city.

Uwishunu @ Blogging While Brown – This video recently surfaced, featuring me (at the 2:10) rambling about blogging, Uwishunu, and Philadelphia while at the Blogging While Brown conference in Chicago earlier this summer. The camera was way too close to my face.

… and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

Lately, I’ve been asked to speak and attend a lot of fun, blogging-related events, and I’ve got to say, I’m enjoying it quite a bit.

This past Tuesday, Philadelphia’s Public Relations Association invited me to have a little chat with their members here in Philly. The turnout was outstanding, over 100 people showed. Lots of love to my wonderful coworkers who came along. You can spot them smack in the middle. Mary, I do believe you’re smiling at the camera.

Other Philly bloggers in attendance included Hughe of Philly Chit Chat, Dan Gross of Philly.com, D-Mac from the Philadelphia Weekly, and Alan Tu from WHYY. We had fun. Hughe has some additional pics on his post about the event.

Earlier in the month, I spoke at Saint Joseph’s University, and come June, I’ll be attending Blogging While Brown, a diversity summit in Chicago. Chicago!

All of these talks! My CV is looking better and better.

The semester starts on Monday, and I’m excited. I’m teaching World Literature II at Holy Family University, and Freshmen Comp at Montgomery County College this semester. I’m a bit nervous about my World Lit class, it’ll be the first time I’ve dealt with fellow English majors. What if I end up with some brilliant literary prodigy who knows more about the Enlightenment Era then me? *panics*

I’m psyched that I get to give a guest lecture at St Joseph’s University next month. All about blogging. Apparently I’m good at that! Who knew?

me: Whoa! I’ve been invited to guest lecture at St Joseph’s University. They want me to talk about blogging in a journalism class in February.
Katie: i love how intelligent and prestigious you are suddenly.
me: Suddenly?!

Thanks Katie.